I. Field
The present disclosure relates generally to wireless communications, and more specifically to techniques for scheduling transmissions in a wireless communication environment.
II. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various communication services; for instance, voice, video, packet data, broadcast, and messaging services can be provided via such wireless communication systems. These systems can be multiple-access systems that are capable of supporting communication for multiple terminals by sharing available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, Frequency Division Multiple Access (FDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems.
As the demand for high-rate and multimedia data services rapidly grows, there has been an effort toward implementation of efficient and robust communication systems with enhanced performance. For example, in recent years, users have started to replace fixed line communications with mobile communications and have increasingly demanded great voice quality, reliable service, and low prices. In addition to mobile telephone networks currently in place, a new class of small base stations has emerged, which can be installed in the home of a user and provide indoor wireless coverage to mobile units using existing broadband Internet connections. Such personal miniature base stations are generally known as access point base stations, or, alternatively, Home Node B (HNB) or Femto cells. Typically, such miniature base stations are connected to the Internet and the network of a mobile operator via a Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) router, cable modem, or the like.
Wireless communication systems can be configured to include a series of wireless access points, which can provide coverage for respective locations within the system. Such a network structure is generally referred to as a cellular network structure, and access points and/or the locations they respectively serve in the network are generally referred to as cells.
Further, in a multiple-in-multiple-out (MIMO) communication system, multiple sources and/or destinations (e.g., corresponding to respective antennas) can be utilized for the transmission and reception of data, control signaling, and/or other information between devices in the communication system. The use of multiple sources and/or destinations for respective transmissions in connection with a MIMO communication system has been shown to yield higher data rates, improved signal quality, and other such benefits over single-input and/or single-output communication systems in some cases. One example of a MIMO communication system is a Network MIMO (N-MIMO) or Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) system, in which a plurality of cells can cooperate to exchange information with one or more receiving devices, such as user equipment units (UEs) or the like. In addition, Automatic Repeat Request (ARQ) and/or Hybrid ARQ (H-ARQ) transmission can be utilized, in which information can be re-transmitted to a given user subsequent to an initial transmission of the information under various conditions (e.g., erroneously received or non-received packets, etc.) in order to increase the accuracy of information transmitted to the user. To the furtherance of at least the above ends, it would be desirable to implement mechanisms by which H-ARQ can be coordinated between respective network cells in a N-MIMO communication system.